Sandusky High School Students Circa 1939

Pictured above are Sandusky High School students about 1939. Social Studies teacher John R. Kahler can be seen in the center of the group. Notes on the back of the original photograph have identified most of the people in the picture.

Many of these students were graduates in June of 1940. Student Jay Leibach would go on to become the chief engineer at WLEC Radio. His obituary in 1986 stated that Jay Leibach was responsible for getting WLEC on the air on December 7, 1947. Mr. Kahler eventually left the education field, and he had another long career with Sandusky Foundry and Machine (now MetalTek); he also served as Sandusky’s ex-officio Mayor in 1948-1949.

Lasalle’s Store

In time for the busy holiday shopping season of 1949, the Lasalle and Koch Company opened a Lasalle’s department store in downtown Sandusky at 247 Columbus Avenue. This location had previously been the site of the Sloane House, and now is an Erie County office building. Rev. Rush R. Sloane spoke at the opening ceremonies held on October 28, 1949. The Sandusky High School band, under the direction of B.F. Aldrich provided music for the event. Mayor Kahler cut the ribbon across the main entrance to the new Lasalle’s store. The store featured four floors of merchandise. The outside walls were made of light brick, and the front of Indiana limestone. Glass windows across the entire front and side of the store created a huge show window.

Lasalle’s sold clothing for every member of the family, along with home furnishings, shoes, appliances, and furniture. A snack bar in the basement provided lunch for employees as well as shoppers. A beauty shop was located on the third floor of Lasalle’s. When shoppers rode the elevator, an elevator operator assisted you in getting to the upper floors of Lasalle’s.

Pictured below are the first Sandusky sales managers for the Lasalle’s store in Sandusky. Lasalle’s provided jobs for many area residents through the years.

The Lasalle’s store served Sandusky area customers until 1981. Do you have any memories of shopping at the Lasalle’s in downtown Sandusky?

Kahler’s Kampbell Street Kash Grocery

Kahler’s “Kampbell Street Kash Grocery” was located at the northwest corner of Campbell and Hendry Streets. John R. Kahler’s obituary, which appeared in the June 27, 1959 Sandusky Register, stated that Mr. Kahler had been a grocer and meat dealer on Campbell Street for over fifty years. He had also served as Zion Lutheran Church’s Sunday School superintendent for fifty years.

John R. Kahler was born in Ottawa County, Ohio in 1880, his parents having immigrated to the United States from Germany. John’s wife Emma listed Germany as her birthplace in the 1920 United States Census. John and Emma Kahler had family of three sons and a daughter, and several grandchildren and great grandchildren. One son, who had the same name as his father, served as Sandusky’s Mayor in 1948 and 1949. The younger John R. Kahler had also been a history teacher and athletic director of Sandusky High School, and former treasurer of the Sandusky Foundry and Machine and Good Samaritan Hospital.

Emma Kahler passed away in 1938, and John R. Kahler died on June 26, 1959. Mr. and Mrs. Kahler are buried in Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.